Observer Editor Honors the Life of One Homeless Man

Rick Thames, editor of the Charlotte Observer, honored the life of Ronald McKoy in his Sunday column. Many at the Urban Ministry Center knew and loved Ronald and watched him waste away before our eyes. Thank you, Rick Thames, for your words and your concern.

A tragic case led reporter to dig deeper
Homeless man's plight foreshadowed delays in getting disability help
RICK THAMES

If any good comes from today's Page 1 story about thousands of disabled Carolinians who are stranded within the bureaucracy of Social Security, we can all thank a man named Ronald McKoy.

Regrettably, the thanks will come posthumously.

Ronald died early last year, a reluctant resident of Charlotte's Uptown Men's Shelter. He had waited more than two years to find out if he qualified for Social Security disability benefits.
A day laborer, Ronald was HIV positive. He had dwindled to barely 100 pounds. He needed money for shelter, food and medicine. But his case remained unresolved as he took trips to a hospital, vomiting blood. He died at age 50.

Ronald's plight so incensed others in the homeless community that they looked for another avenue of appeal. They found it on the other end of a telephone when they called Observer reporter Fred Kelly.

At that point, Fred could not have fathomed that Ronald's case was emblematic of widespread problems with Social Security's disability system. He's the kind of reporter prone to check out even an isolated instance of injustice. He simply cares that much.

But when Fred arrived at the shelter, he quickly learned that many of its beds were filled with people like Ronald, destitute and appealing denials of disability benefits. He dug some more and discovered that applicants at Charlotte's disability hearing office wait, on average, nearly four months longer than others across the nation.

Fred's story, appearing in January, focused on Ronald and the long waits. Soon, others called. They were not yet homeless, but illness or injury had sidelined them from work. They said they also struggled for months or years to be approved.

So Fred widened his lens, writing in February about Terrie Sloan. Terrie, 49, was a former travel executive who suffered from a brain cyst and other ailments. A physician said that she was unemployable, yet Social Security had rejected her application for disability benefits four times.

As Fred wrote about her case, Terrie was about to lose her home. She had been told not to expect another hearing on her circumstances for 18 to 24 months. A month after the story appeared in the Observer, a judge who hears disability appeals approved her for benefits.
Terrie's story triggered dozens more calls. Some people even drove for hours just to tell Fred their stories.

Fred dug deeper. In February, he filed a request under the federal Freedom of Information Act. He asked for detailed information about the operation, staffing and efficiency of the Charlotte office that hears appeals of denials for disability benefits for this region.
Only in June did the federal government comply with even a portion of Fred's request. But it was enough to help produce today's rare glimpse at a cluster of courtrooms that operate largely outside of the public's view.

Among the troubling findings: Disability appeals are critically backlogged across the country. But as a group, Charlotte judges lag well behind peers in the Carolinas and the nation on the number of decisions they make.

Fred and reporter Josh Lanier spent about 40 hours observing the office's activities over a two-week period. Several times, Fred asked permission to interview the judges. All said they were prohibited from speaking publicly.

Office employees asked Fred to leave multiple times. He declined, explaining that he needed to be there to understand how the office operated.

That would have mattered a great deal to Ronald McKoy. It should also matter to every working adult in our region. All of us, after all, pay into Social Security on the premise that it will be there when we need it. All of us are just one accident or diagnosis removed from disability.
So, thank you Ronald. We are very sorry that you suffered, yet grateful that you touched other people so powerfully that they could not let your case rest.

And thank you, Fred, for listening, and for working ceaselessly to understand the important message behind one homeless man's story. Editor Rick Thames

HHH Celebrates a Remarkable Summer!

After all of the work HHH members have put in this summer, and all the victories - both big and small - we decided it was time to celebrate. Through the generosity of Fox and Hound, we enjoyed two hours of pool games and darts, as well as a scrumptious array of finger foods. See below for some candid moments. Jerry, Brenda and Bobby enjoying chips and soda.
Claudia taking in all the action from the side.
Virgil and David strike a pose.
Dirk and Richard "Abraham" Lincoln racking it up, as Tommy Yarborough watches.
Rollon smiling, despite his crushing defeat to Liz in darts.

HHH Asks County for Emergency Weather Plan

Since HHH members worked to set-up a warm place for homeless women last Easter's cold snap, HHH has discussed the need for a county-wide emergency weather plan. With a grueling two weeks of extreme heat, HHH members decided it was time to ask the County Commission to lead an effort to create such a plan. Richard Lincoln and Tommy Yarborough addressed the commission at their August 14th meeting, which you can view at: http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/BOCC/Meetings/View.htm
(they start speaking at 1:05 on the video)

The request was followed with a flurry of activity. See below for a story by the Charlotte Observer.

HHH members are proud to announce on Sept. 6 the director of Emergency Management Services has called a meeting to begin constructing an emergency inclement weather plan!

HEAT WAVE
Cooling centers for homeless urged
Conditions threaten health; library reports crowd seeking shelter
APRIL BETHEA AND FRED KELLY
abethea@charlotteobserver.com

With temperatures soaring near 100 degrees Wednesday, Orrin Eison and other homeless men huddled inside a social outreach center trying to stay safe from a deadly heat wave blamed in deaths across the Southeast. A 57-year-old diabetic, Eison worried that the heat would cause dehydration and his blood sugar to fluctuate rapidly.

Sweltering temperatures predicted to last until the weekend have raised concerns about the safety of homeless and low-income residents who can't afford air conditioning. Just in the past week, two people have died in South Carolina and six more in Tennessee and Mississippi from heat-related causes. There have been no reported deaths in the Charlotte area, but social workers say leaders should be proactive to prevent fatalities.

Other cities nationwide, including Raleigh, have "cooling centers" or buildings where the poor can retreat during dangerously hot weather.

In response to complaints, Mecklenburg County officials said Wednesday they would consider opening such centers here. "Charlotte is always saying it wants to be a progressive city, but there's nothing in place," said Richard Lincoln, a member of Homeless Help Homeless, an advocacy group lobbying the Mecklenburg County commissioners. "There no reason this should not be done."

Mecklenburg now opens government buildings when officials receive reports from police or firefighters of increases in heat-related emergency calls. There has been no noticeable increase in such reports this summer, county officials said.

Still, Peter Safir, county homeless services director, said the policy deserves scrutiny because it's reactive. There are few places for the homeless to escape the heat. In recent days, some gathered inside the Urban Ministry Center near uptown. Others have crowded into the main library branch uptown. Susan Herzog, the library manager, sent an e-mail to Homeless Helping Homeless recently that reads: "During the recent heat wave, the Main Library has been full, with almost all chairs and tables taken up during the day by people who appear to be homeless."

Until Monday, Claudia Moses, 61, lived in the Hall House, a 12-story public housing apartment building. Before she moved, she endured two days in the building without air conditioning because her system malfunctioned. She went to the Urban Ministry Center and also to church for relief, fearing the heat would aggravate her asthma. Moses said that ideally, she'd like a place where residents could sit down or grab a cool drink, play games and perhaps talk with others. "Just like you could freeze to death," she said, "you could die from heat."

The American Red Cross set up two shelters last week in Mooresville and Statesville after residents contacted the county health department to ask where they could go during the heat. Officials sent recorded messages to all county residents and advertised the shelters through the media. But the centers were shut down after two days, said Mitzi Summers, emergency services program manager, because no one showed up.

HHH Gets a New Bus Stop!

Tommy Yarborough (and his walking cane) suggested that HHH request a bus stop nearer to the Urban Ministry Center. See the outcome below:

Ms. Clasen:

On 8/16/07, the Bus Stop Committee reviewed your request to have bus stops installed near the Urban Ministry. This request has been approved. It make take several weeks to get the installation completed. Locations have to be marked, utilities located, etc.

The committee also suggested we add trash cans at these locations since it is anticipated the ridership will be moderate. A request will be submitted to Special Services one the stops have been installed.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions regarding this matter. I will be happy to assist.

Thank you.

A Drink with Congressman Mel Watt (D. 12th District – NC)

By Dawoud Assad

On July 9-11, 2007 Homeless Helping Homeless sent representatives to the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference on Ending Homelessness: The Time is Now!, in Washington, DC. We also took this opportunity to visit with and lobby our NC senators and representatives about our concerns on homelessness in the United States and North Carolina and Charlotte in particular. Unfortunately, Congressman Watt was in committee at the time of our visit and thus was not available. In lieu of our visit, Congressman Watt did agree to visit us at one of our HHH meetings for lunch, although he did specify that he did prefer not to actually partake of food.

Our meeting with Congressman Watt was very successful. We were able to impress upon him a wide array of concerns of the organization and the community enlarge: from the plight of Mother Betty, to Rollon Washington’s quest for more attention to homeless veterans, to Dirk Thune’s outrage for American assistance to foreign countries, while neglecting to address “homelessness in our own backyard,” and AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

Congressman Watt ended the meeting by thanking us for the occasion and said that the meeting was quite enlightening. It also helped him to put a face on homelessness and to understand that homelessness afflicts people from all walks of life, without consideration of their station, religion, or national origin.

Homelessness is pandemic of the Human Race. By the way, in lieu of food, our beverage of choice was H2O.

Mel Watt Visits with Homeless Helping Homeless

As part of his annual "trading places" event, Mel Watt spent an hour in conversation with HHH members. Claudia spoke of struggles with her disability; Dawoud shared about confronting his own stigma of homelessness when he found himself without a place to live; Dirk challenged the congressman on his record of "action, action, action"; Rollon addressed the plight of homeless veterans and his own military service; and Mother Betty and Sister Dian shared of their struggles to keep their homeless ministry open.

The group had the opportunity to ask Representative Watt to continue to support the federal housing trust fund, as well lobby for his support of the local 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Below Representative Watt is shown speaking the group and donning his new HHH T-shirt.